The FrenchBIC supported me in attending the 14th International Symposium on Applied Bioinorganic Chemistry (isabc14), which took place in Toulouse between the 7th-10th June 2017. A wide range of topics was covered; lectures extended from the role of metals in Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes to the application of lanthanide complexes for multiplex detection or optical imaging. I would like to point out that the session dedicated to metalloenzymes, inspiration, mimics function and inhibition was especially interesting to me and that I had the opportunity to present a poster within this topic entitled “Electrochemical studies of FeFe hydrogenase from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: kinetics of gas binding and release”. I could discuss with young researchers as well as experienced scientists, which made this conference a very enriching experience.

I was given a FrenchBIC grant that allowed me to attend to the « 14th international symposium on applied inorganic chemistry » congress that took place from the 7th to the 10th of June, in Toulouse, France. I am currently doing my PhD on the research of new inhibitors for a Fe/S enzyme (quinolinate synthase). My research topic fit well on one of the congress themes, which concerned metalloenzymes, inspiration, mimics, function and inhibition. So on the one hand I was able to present my work in a poster session, and on the other hand, I was able to listen to different speakers that work on the domain and discuss with them as well as with other PhD students, which permitted me to come back from the congress with new ideas, thoughts and considerations.
It was also very enriching to listen or talk to people that work on other kinds of topics. It broadened my knowledge and it made me curious about other types of research that I will take into account for the future. I am very thankful to have had this opportunity.

I would like to thank the FrenchBIC for the grant that allowed me to attend the 14th International Symposium on Applied Bioinorganic Chemistry, which took place from the 7th-10th June 2017 in Toulouse. It was an extremely interesting congress and many different subjects related to bioinorganic chemistry were discussed. I found particularly interesting the session “Metalloenzymes, inspiration, mimics, function and inhibition” and I also had the opportunity to present my own work, related to this topics, during the poster session. During the presentations, and in general throughout the whole conference, I had the opportunity to discuss my results with other researcher involved in similar topics. On one hand this constructive dialogue allowed me to gain insight and new useful ideas for my project, and on the other the talks were an excellent opportunity to learn more about what the leaders in different fields are concentrating on. It was an extremely enriching experience on both the scientific and personal levels.

KAMAL ZEAMARI, BIP, Marseille, “Tuning the redox potential of the first electron transfer relay in the periplasmic nitrate reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides”